NBT Soccer Tourney Launched

Bandar Seri Begawan - The official launch of the NBT Challenge Trophy 2004 (January 30 - March 7) soccer tournament was conducted at the NBT (B) Sdn Bhd showroom in Jalan Tutong on Thursday, January 15. The tournament this year - the second to be held - has attracted keen interest from 16 teams.

Guest-of-honour at the official launch and draw was Pg Hj Matusin bin Pg Hj Matasan, the Brunei Darussalam Football Association (BAFA) secretary-general, who conducted the draw. Launching the tournament were the NBT Managing Director Ninan Chako and the NBT General Sales Manager Haji Shahrun bin Haji Kadir.

According to Mr. Chako, this year's two-fold increase in participation was indicative of the success of the tournament's unique formula: a good mixture of senior and youth players in a quality tournament involving both public and private sector teams.

"There is a compulsory mix of experienced senior and younger players. Our experience last year amply demonstrated that this is a winning formula: the more senior players had good support from their younger team-males while the latter benefited from the guidance and experience of their seniors. In this way, the tournament contributes directly to the development of youth players in Negara Brunei Darussalam," he said.

"It is our company's policy to support healthy sports initiatives and we are very happy to contribute to the promotion, growth and development of football in Brunei Darussalam," Haji Shahrum explained when asked about his company's motivations in organising this unique tournament which is fast becoming a fixture in the local football scene.

"We fully understand that for Brunei football standard to rise, there must be quality tournaments for players to gain valuable exposure and experience. It is only through playing with better teams that standards will be raised. NBT (Brunei) Sdn Bhd is proud to be sable to contribute concretely in this respect."  -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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